The Clouds of High Society
by BananaLollypop
Summary: In which Enjolras and Éponine have to deal with a Marius who has changed. Part 12 in my 'What if...Enjolnine' series. R&R appreciated as much as YouTube (i.e. MORE THAN A LOT!)


**AN: **Hello! So, apparently I lied twice last night... first when I said that I should be able to upload again before today, and second when I said I wasn't able to upload today. Oh well, you have your installment, and peace has been restored :3 *sorry for any typos, it's late D:)

At the end of this installment is a stupidly long explanation regarding the structure of this story and my plans for its future. If you don't want to read about that, then you don't have to, but I had a couple of reviews regarding it, so I felt compelled to explain ^-^

Prompt: What if Enjolras and Éponine had to break the news of Éponine's pregnancy to Marius and Cosette? Enjoy!

* * *

Almost four months into her pregnancy, and Éponine's bump was just starting to form. The sickness had finally stopped (after a further two weeks of throwing up into whatever large container was available at the time and place), and Éponine could finally enjoy that fact that she was actually going to have a baby.

Enjolras was a new man, and was even more protective of Éponine that usual (but, being the clever person that he was, he was careful about it and always gave Éponine space when she needed it- normally when she was in the middle of a particularly violent mood swing).

After a few of the Amis find out about their little surprise from Combeferre and Gavroche, Enjolras and Éponine were faced with the rather daunting task of breaking the news to the easily-excitable Cosette and Marius; a task that both of them knew would involve a lot of squealing, hugging and general over-reactions.

Marius and Cosette had been rather secretive after their weddings, only ever turning up to the Musain when a meeting had been scheduled, and otherwise sticking to themselves. It had been months since Éponine had been out for lunch, or on a shopping trip with Cosette, and, as much as she hated to say it, she missed the girl's mindless chatter about things of little importance.

The Amis had almost scolded Éponine and Enjolras on the fact that they still hadn't told their best friends about the baby, but the truth of it was that they hadn't seen their friends at a time suitable enough to break the news. So, tired of waiting for the moment, Éponine and Enjolras decided to create it, and went to visit them where they knew they would be.

Visiting the house Marius and Cosette lived in with Cosette's father, Enjolras took Éponine's hand and squeezed it comfortingly before knocking on the front door. Cosette's father answered it and smiled, before letting the two in and calling through to Cosette and Marius.

"Cosette! Éponine and Enjolras are here!" he then turned to said visitors, "They're in the sitting room. Go straight through, they won't mind." Before disappearing into another part of the house.

"This house just reminds me of that bloody wedding," Éponine muttered, "And Cosette's darling maid who apparently wanted to squeeze every last little bit of breath out of me..."

"Well, at least they'll never get married again," Enjolras pointed out, smiling slightly at Éponine's glowering face; he didn't care how cliché it was, Éponine looked adorable when she was angry or annoyed.

"Éponine!" Cosette smiled happily as Éponine and Enjolras entered the sitting room where she was sitting on the sofa with Marius, "This is an unexpected surprise!" Cosette wrapped Éponine in a not-completely-welcome hug, the latter of the two still holding Enjolras' hand. The revolutionary leader tried not to call out in pain as Éponine's grip on his hand tightened considerably.

"Yes, well, we, er... we have some news." Éponine said as Cosette released her.

"Good news, I hope?" Marius questioned, getting up and shaking Enjolras' other hand.

"Well, we think so," Enjolras told him.

"Please, take a seat," Cosette said, sitting back down in her previous seat and gesturing to the sofa opposite them. Sitting in the house that Cosette was now living in really made Éponine think about her own life; was this how Cosette had lived all of her life? Would Éponine have wanted to live like that? Certainly, she would have wanted to as the spoiled brat of a child she had once been, but the struggled she had had to face in the years in which her parents lost all their money certainly made her appreciate the little things.

"You see the thing is..." Éponine wondered if she should just come out and say it. She had planned the speech in her head on the way over, but now she was faced with the task of actually telling her friends the news, her mind had gone blank.

Seeing Éponine hesitate, Enjolras took over, "We're expecting." Cosette and Marius looked at them a little blankly.

"Expecting what?" Marius asked, frowning.

_Dear Lord,_ Éponine thought, _how did Marius ever get into university?!_

"A baby," Éponine clarified, smiling at Enjolras happily. Because she was happy about it now, incredibly so, all worries now gone.

Enjolras had been incredible in regards to putting up with her when she had felt down or annoyed for no reason. Combeferre and Joly had advised both of them to give each other space sometimes so as not to 'dig the hole even deeper', so to speak. It seemed to be working a lot of the time, but Éponine found herself missing Enjolras when she was in a bad mood and he had decided to follow Joly and Combeferre's advice.

She made a mental note to tell Enjolras about it later, before actually paying attention to Cosette and Marius' reactions. Cosette was gaping at them, looking pleasantly surprised, and Marius just looked extremely confused.

"But... you two aren't even... _married_ yet." He said, looking really quite baffled. Enjolras frowned.

"Yes, we're quite aware of that, Marius," he said, "But sometimes these things can't be helped."

"Well, I'm happy for you." Cosette said decidedly, "It's nice that you still want to look after the baby as partners as opposed to a married couple."

"Well, we actually haven't spoken about getting married yet," Éponine said, "It could happen in the near future, it might not. We just want to face every day as it comes."

"What'll you do about the revolution, if you have a baby on the way?"Marius asked Enjolras, "What if it gets in the way of the cause?"

"I plan to be dedicated to both the revolution and my child," Enjolras said, getting slightly annoyed at the way Marius was talking; it was if Enjolras and Éponine were just common people who had no respect for the customs of their standard of life, "And I'm sure _he or she_ will be an asset to the country and will also believe in our cause the way I do."

Marius shrugged, "It's just you were always talking about distractions before the rebellion last June," he said, "Now you've got distractions popping up all over the place!"

"Marius, have you and Cosette talked about having a child yet?" Éponine asked, her voice quiet but firm.

"No, we haven't, we thought we'd just enjoy married life for a while before-"

"Then please refrain from calling our baby a 'distraction', or an 'it', or 'something that will get in the way'. I still haven't returned the favour from when your drunken self decided to talk about me in a way that left Enjolras screaming for his weapons. What happened to the Marius who wouldn't take a franc if he hadn't earned it? Because you seem to have become very materialistic and, frankly, you're a bit up in the high society. So, please, think about what you say before you say it." And with that, Éponine stood up, took Enjolras' hand once more and left the room.

"I'll see you soon, Cosette," she called behind her on her way out, "And please explain to Marius the important of not making yourself look like a prat to your best friends."

When the two left the house, Enjolras was gaping at her, his eyes wide.

"Can I help you, monsieur?" Éponine giggled, "You look as if you'll explode if you don't say what you're obviously dying to."

"You just... did you... that was incredible," he said, "Absolutely incredible. I was worried about asking you if you'd agree to come with me to tell my parents, but after that... I will beg you to put my mother in her place the second she questions our relationship. Please?" Éponine laughed.

"You want me to meet your parents?" she asked, feigning surprise, "But, Enjolras... we're not even married yet! Are you sure our relationship is ready for this?" the two burst out laughing at Éponine's jibe towards Marius, "Of course I'll come. I daren't leave you to tell them alone, I might never see you again!"

Éponine, having heard that Enjolras was the only child of two extremely upper-class parents who looked down on anyone who lived or had ever lived in anywhere that wasn't at least a three story house. They funded his lessons at university because Enjolras had never told him about his beloved revolution and never planned to. It was an arrangement that worked for him, and so Éponine was happy to go along with it.

"I don't have to pretend to be some... rich bourgeois girl, do I?" she asked him as they made their way home.

"Oh, Christ, no!" he exclaimed, "I'd hate for you to be anyone but you. You're the Éponine I fell in love with after all."

"I think I've changed," she told him casually, "Not necessarily in a bad way," she added hurriedly as she saw that Enjolras was about to argue, "I'm certainly a lot happier in myself, and who I am. I'd _never_ have spoken to Marius like that before the rebellion."

"Before you came to your senses, you mean," Enjolras teased. Éponine shoved him lightly.

"But on the other hand... I feel like I'd never be able to cope with living on the streets anymore. I'd become do streetwise, growing up with my sorry excuse for a family, and now all of that seems to have just disappeared. Not that I can say the same for Gavroche. He's practically itching to climb in his elephant for a night or two every week. Courfeyrac's forbidden it; says it's not safe. 'Vroche begged me to let him go for a few nights that first week he was staying with us."

"He confuses me," Enjolras muttered, "Not just in a bad way though. He has spirit, I can say that for sure."

"What a nice way if putting it," Éponine laughed, "But I think what you really mean to say is that he's completely crazy and he's the type of person who would laugh in the face of a gun, whether he thought that the person behind it would shoot him or not."

"That is... scarily accurate," Enjolras told her, smiling slightly, "But that's beside the point. He is... happy with us though, isn't he?"

"He hasn't told me that he isn't," Éponine told him, frowning, "Why?"

"I just... I feel like I'm becoming attached to him a little bit," Enjolras told her, "And I will tickle you to _death_ if you tell any of the Amis that. But it's fun, having him around. His views on the revolution are incredibly precise for a boy his age. It's nice to have that insight."

"I'm slightly worried about your idea of fun, Apollo," Éponine grinned.

"Well, then you can be the fun parent," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist, "I'll be the strict one. Although I'd hate to be on the wrong side of your temper."

"You can hardly talk, Monsieur 'Where Are My Weapons'," Éponine laughed, "But can we please get back on topic?"

"Right," Enjolras agreed, smiling at her jibe, "My parents. You'll come? As you, not as the perfect girlfriend? And you'll put my mother in her place if she steps over the line?"

"Yes, yes and definitely yes," Éponine said, kissing Enjolras lightly on the lips before taking his hand, "I'm hungry."

"Then I suggest eating something," Enjolras smirked, "But that's just a suggestion."

"I have a craving for... cake. And cream. With a cup of tea and lots of sugar." Éponine smiled wistfully.

"Then that, mademoiselle, is what we shall have," Enjolras said, leading her down the street to the nearest bakery cafe.

* * *

Enjolras wrote to his parents that night (as well as looking over a letter he had received from the government).

"Dear Monsieur Enjolras, blah, blah, blah... we appreciate your suggestions, blah, blah, blah... we have discussed your suggestions and wish for you to elaborate on a few, blah, blah, blah... Kind regards, Monsieur 'I Couldn't Care Less About Your Cause'." Enjolras grumbled.

"I take it that a trip to the government buildings is in order then?" Éponine asked, handing him a cup of tea and rubbing his shoulder comfortingly.

"Looks like it," he sighed, "But it'll require planning. And it will have to be _before_ Baby is born. I don't want some silly government raid to make me miss my son's birth."

"Son?!" Éponine exclaimed, "I hope you don't know something that I don't, Apollo!"

"Relax, Athena," Enjolras laughed, "I just have a feeling that Baby is going to be a boy."

"Well, I disagree," she said, raising her eyebrows at his theory, "I think Baby is going to be a girl. And I just _know_ that she'll be a Papa's princess."

"Oh do you now?" he asked, sipping his tea,

"Yes," Éponine said firmly, "I used to be a Papa's girl. I think our little one will love her Papa the same. Except you will be a much better role model and a fantastic father."

"I'm glad you have faith in me," Enjolras shrugged, "I think, for the first time in my life, something is actually petrifying me. The thought of becoming a father, having a tiny little life that completely relies on the two of us to look after it..."

"Okay, you can stop right there," Éponine said holding her hands up, "I'm feeling confident about being a mother. I don't need your gloomy thoughts."

"Apologies, Athena," Enjolras smirked, before smiling fondly, "You'll be an excellent mother. Even Gavroche thinks so."

"What about me?" said little boy happened to come running in just as Enjolras finished his sentence.

"You think that Éponine will be a great mother, don't you?" Enjolras asked him. Gavroche grinned.

"The best mother," he agreed, "You've looked after me all these years, haven't you, 'Ponine? Even when that thick, evil, pathetic excuse for a father of ours chucked me out. It's not easy to keep track of me. Just ask Courf." Éponine and Enjolras frowned at each other, confused as Gavroche looked towards the still open door as if he was expecting someone.

Then, a few seconds later, they could hear the sound of feet climbing the stairs to their second-floor apartment, and Courfeyrac eventually dragged himself into the apartment.

"Gavroche," he said pleadingly, "Please don't run off the second I turn my back!"

"I was bored!" Gavroche complained as Courfeyrac collapsed onto the sofa, besides, you told me to entertain myself for a few minutes. There's not much that's more entertaining than watching you try and catch me." He grinned mischievously. Courfeyrac just glared at him, finally catching his breath back.

"How did telling Marius and Cosette about your little bundle of joy go?" he asked Enjolras and Éponine, who smiled as each other.

"Well, different from how we expected it," Enjolras said.

"It seems our dearest Marius has got his head a bit stuck in the high-society clouds," Éponine told him, "Called the baby a 'distraction', an 'it', and 'something that will get in the way', almost in the same breath."

"Ouch," Courfeyrac winced, "What did you say?"

"I told him to get off his high horse and that I still haven't paid him back for his little drunken rant about me," Éponine grinned. Courfeyrac laughed hysterically.

"You should have been there, Courf," Enjolras laughed, "She put him in his place, and then we just walked out! It was truly hilarious."Gavroche rolled his eyes.

"Your idea of 'funny' worries me," he said, making a face at Enjolras.

"Don't worry, Gavroche, it worries me too," Éponine said, although she too chuckled along with the boys.

"Who's next on the 'To Tell About the Baby' list, then?" Courfeyrac asked after Gavroche disappeared into his room and the three of them finally stopped laughing.

"Apollo's parents," Éponine told him as Enjolras grimaced.

"It should be... interesting, to say the least." He said.

"Are you going for the 'pretend Éponine is the perfect match' approach, or the 'Éponine who just completely shut Marius up' approach."

"Well, she already is the perfect match, so..." Enjolras grinned, "The 'Éponine who just completely shut Marius up' approach, of course."

"I'm not going to pretend to be someone that I'm not," Éponine explained to Courfeyrac. He nodded approvingly.

"Good for you, 'Ponine," he said, "Especially with Enjolras' parents. Do you remember the first time I met them, Enjolras?"

"Oh, that was an entertaining trip, wasn't it?" Enjolras said, grimacing once again at the memory.

"What happened?" Éponine asked, intrigued by the boys' comments.

"I've been 'banished' from their house," Courfeyrac told her with a laugh, "Not that I'm at all bothered of course. But it really was quite pathetic. No offence, Enjolras."

"Oh, no offense taken," Enjolras said, rolling his eyes, "All he did was say that he's never been to a banquet in the government halls. That, apparently, is all it took..."

"No, they didn't like me from the start," Courfeyrac grinned, "I really should stop just being myself around new people..."

"I shall do my hardest to get banished _after_ we've told them the news," Éponine laughed, "Because, really, my banishment is inevitable."

"I will forbid them from banishing you," Enjolras promised, smirking slightly as he took her hand in his, "And they certainly won't be banishing Baby, whether it's a he or a she, and whether it's been to some stupid banquet or not."

"You never forbade them from banishing me." Courfeyrac grumbled jokily. Enjolras rolled his eyes as Éponine laughed.

Courfeyrac got up to leave, "I should probably go and check that Grantaire hasn't drunk himself under the table yet. It's my job to get him home tonight, so..." he shrugged, "Bye, Gavroche!" he called through the door. The boy bolted out and hit Courfeyrac's legs like a child-sized bullet as he hugged him goodbye.

"I'm staying with you next week, right?" Gavroche asked.

"Yes, 'Vroche," Courfeyrac confirmed, "Just like you ask every week. This was your idea, remember?"

When Courfeyrac's final exams had passed, Éponine had told Gavroche that it was up to him whether he went to live with Courfeyrac again or whether he stayed with her and Enjolras. Her brother, unable to choose between them, had come up with the idea to spend alternate weeks in alternate flats, spending a week with Courfeyrac and then a week with Éponine and Enjolras.

Gavroche nodded happily, waving before returning to his room.

"Good luck to both of you with the parents from upper-class Hell," Courfeyrac said to Enjolras and Éponine as he left.

The two shared a look that clearly said 'we're going to need it'.

* * *

**You guys didn't think I'd just skip straight to the birth of our little Éponine/Enjolras did you? :3 No, there's more from our parents-to-be to come yet!**

**Right, long, possibly boring, speech about what this is all about.  
I decided, when I first wrote this story, to upload each installment separately. 'WHY?!' I hear you cry! Because I like the idea of having one-shots that can be linked together, but that could also be read separately. Obviously at the moment this isn't quite the case, but I like the idea of having each installment as a SEPARATE part/problem of Éponine and Enjolras' lives. I COULD have done that in a single fic, but where's the fun in that?! Each installment is supposed to be about a different dilemma/success/happy thing/sad thing etc. **

**Now, the future of the story:  
I am going to continue to upload these as separate fics, because that's the way I like it. HOWEVER... when I hit either 30 or 50 installments (depending on when I start to get less ideas/prompts), I shall create 'What if... Enjolnine: The Extended Edition'. NOW DOESN'T THAT SOUND EXCITING?! XD**

**The Extended Edition will contain every installment I have posted as a separate fic in a single, multi-chapter story with a lot more detail. Almost like a movie with all the director's cuts in it. I will elaborate on EVERYTHING, which means more fluff, more detail, a few additional chapters. But that is ONLY if interest in the story is maintained and it will take some time, so if you're patient with me, I hope that it'll be very rewarding. **

**I honestly do love (and was completely astounded by) the support this series/these storied has/have had. When I wrote that first installment, I didn't think I would get past a three-shot. Here I am with the 13th installment and I couldn't be happier. Thank you once again to those who have followed/reviewed/favourited both the stories and me as an author (and to those lovely reviews from: musicalways99, katniss7475, Spread My Wings and Soar, MerlinDementiaSnow, speakloud, , FerminerdyPotato, Summer Sunrises, Wolf's Willow, stagepageandscreen, Athena Writer 24601, thaliagrace21, PhoenixGirl97, SleepingwithinWater, CaliKitty13, TcEm, PurpleNinjas7 ****and all of you amazing Guests**. Yup. That is every single person who has reviewed. That, to me, is incredible.)

***stupidly long explanation/thank you DONE***

**Chuck me a review if you fancy it, or a prompt if you have one, or both! I don't mind! Thanks for reading (especially those who got through that^ massive bold paragraph XD)**


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